Formula Master's official two-day test at Magny-Cours, France, began today with 31 cars taking to the track whilst Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer posted the fastest lap of the day.
Despite overcast weather conditions, the Formula Master drivers completed 1,963 laps, totalling 8,658km, during the day.
Leimer's morning time of 1:32.755 could not be bettered by the rest of the Formula Master field although Tim Sandtler's best time got him the closest, with a 1:32.996 lap.
"At the moment, the car is really good," said Leimer who also claimed best rookie of the day. "I'm able to go out everytime and set a good lap. We're not pushing, everything is working well and that's where the lap times come from.
"We've been focusing on distances today, going out for eight, nine, ten laps at a time and seeing how consistent the car is. Every lap was close each time, which is great."
With intermittent rain during the afternoon, drivers were unable to significantly improve their times and it was Switzerland's Leimer who set the fastest lap of the session once more with a time of 1:33.083.
ADM Motorsport's Norbert Siedler followed closely with a 1:33.103 lap whilst Pablo Sanchez Lopez came third in the afternoon session (1:33.176) for Cram Competition.
"We worked more on the development of the cars today," said Siedler. "We set some solid times this afternoon and can now focus on finding good set-ups tomorrow."
Team-mates Tim Sandtler and Filip Salaquarda enjoyed the best combined performance for ISR posting strong times throughout the day and claiming second and ninth fastest overall respectively.
Newcomer Harald Schlegelmilch took to the track for the first time for Trident Racing, following his stint in GP2 Asia. Euronova's Johannes Theobald from Germany and returning Swiss driver Nicolas Maulini also tested for the first time this year as did Hillclimb racer Florian Lachat with Jenzer Racing.
Formula Master - Magny-Cours official testing Day One: morning - top eight
1. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport, 1:32.755
2. Tim Sandtler (CZR), ISR, 1:32.996
3. Chris van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.376
4. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.457
5. Michael Ammermueller (GER), Iris Project, 1:33.591
6. Norbert Siedler (AUS), ADM Motorsport, 1:33.762
7. Michael Meadows (GBR), Euronova Racing, 1.33.768
8. Carlos Iaconelli (BRA), Pro Motorsport, 1:33.854
Formula Master - Magny-Cours official testing Day One: afternoon - top eight
1. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport, 1:33.083
2. Norbert Siedler (AUS), ADM Motorsport, 1:33.103
3. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Cram Competition, 1:33.176
4. Chris van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.269
5. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition, 1:33.383
6. Michael Ammermueller (GER), Iris Project, 1:33.572
7. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.681
8. Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR, 1:33.744
Formula Master - Magny-Cours official testing Day One: overall
1. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport, 1:32.755
2. Tim Sandtler (CZR), ISR, 1:32.996
3. Norbert Siedler (AUS), ADM Motorsport, 1:33.103
4. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Cram Competition, 1:33.176
5. Chris van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.269
6. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition, 1:33.383
7. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.457
8. Michael Ammermueller (GER), Iris Project, 1:33.572
9. Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR, 1:33.744
10. Michael Meadows (GBR), Euronova Racing, 1.33.768
11. Daniel Mancinelli (ITA), Alan Racing, 1:33.807
12. Carlos Iaconelli (BRA), Pro Motorsport, 1:33.854
13. Fabrizio Crestani (ITA), Euronova Racing, 1:33.874
14. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Pro Motorsport, 1:33.927
15. Luca Persiani (ITA), Scuderia Famá, 1:34.180
16. Alberto Costa (ITA), Cram Competition, 1:34.298
17. Alejandro Nunez (ESP), Trident Racing, 1:34.299
18. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing, 1:34.346
19. Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA, 1:34.480
20. Dominik Schraml (GER), Alan Racing, 1:34.607
21. Nicolas Maulini (SUI), NMRT, 1:34.680
22. Matei Mihaescu (ROM), Jenzer Motorsport, 1:34.690
23. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), J.D. Motorsport, 1:34.758
24. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing, 1:34.886
25. Frankie Provenzano (ITA), ADM Motorsport, 1:35.085
26. Johannes Theobalt (GER), Euronova Racing, 1:35.267
27. Troy Castaneda (USA), Alan Racing, 1:35.509
28. Florian Lachat (SUI), Iris Project, 1:35.777
29. Michele Caliendo (ITA), ADM Motorsport, 1:36.525
30. Giuseppe Terranova (ITA), Pro Motorsport, 1:37.114
31. Tomas Pivoda (CZH), ADM Motorsport, 1:38.523
Formula Master's official test at Magny-Cours concludes tomorrow. For today's full results, please visit www.formulamaster.net
- RSM -
